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Friday, October 25, 2013

The Box Tortoise and Hibernation

The Box Tortoise is one of the hibernating tortoises. It is a common tortoise in USA and Europe, and unlike other turtles and tortoises, it is adapted for the cold weather in those areas. If you have a box tortoise as a pet, you will have to prepare him or her for the long winter that follows.

As soon as the days start to be shorter, the turtle will begin to be less active, and it will become slow. Soon, she will enter in hibernation, the latent state in which some animals sleep. The temperature of the body and the metabolism are reduced, and this is the way the tortoise gets over the winter.

However, why would a healthy reptile that has enough food need to hibernate? Well, the world simply does not have enough resources to understand hibernation, but it is clearly that this determines the health of the animal. The healthy tortoises deposit reserves of fat in the anterior period before hibernation. If they are not allowed to hibernate, the tortoise will become obese. It is considered that hibernation is necessary for the thyroid gland. There are also proves that hibernation helps the immune system. Hibernation is probably necessary in case you want your turtle to reach the maximum life.

In their natural environment, many tortoises hibernate from October to the end of February, or even at the beginning of April. The tortoises dig into the ground, isolating from the temperature modifications.

In captivity, the tortoises might not hibernate at all. As long as they have food and heat, they might not need it. Encouraging the tortoise to hibernate means to create an environment as close as possible to the real one, and also the reduction of temperature and light.

The box turtle that wants to hibernate will not have appetite anymore. If the environment and the lifestyle allows, she will begin to dig a hideout where she will spend the winter.

For a box tortoise, it is important to know a few things: 1. Did she hibernated before? Did she eat well? Was she consulted by a veterinarian?

The box tortoises and the ones that were kept at improper temperatures are not suited for hibernation. If you were able to record the weight of your pet, or if you don’t have a clear history of the box tortoise, it is better to leave hibernation for the next year.
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